Letter From the Editor

Beth Magistad, Ph.D., CFLE, Network Editor
/ CFLE Network, Spring 2023
Beth Magistad
     

When I was training to be a parent educator in the 1990s, we were taught to “stay in our lane” and avoid any drift into the realms of therapy, medicine, or other fields that were not in our scope of practice. Although there are good reasons for this, the siloed approach also has limitations. The articles in this issue of Network exploring the topic of Using Family Life Education to Address the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Crisis illuminate the benefit of multidisciplinary and collaborative approaches for both prevention and intervention. A recurring theme of this issue is the value of “mental health literacy” for practitioners, parents, and children/adolescents. Another theme is the value of connection to community. As I was working on this issue of Network, I finished reading What Happened to You? Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing, Bruce Perry and Oprah Winfrey (2021). Perry believes that Western practitioners can learn from the community-oriented practices of indigenous cultures, such as the Māori of New Zealand. Two of the pillars of traditional healing in indigenous cultures have been “1) connection to clan and the natural world; 2) regulating rhythm through dance, drumming and song” (Perry & Winfrey 2021, p. 200). This fits well with the Burnette and Cano-Guin article on using the motivational principles of music therapy—for example, by encouraging the use of “Songs of Care” for family connection; it also fits well with the Grubbs and Hardman article, which advocates decreasing “the mental health risks LGBTQ youth face by increasing family acceptance and community safety.” Family Life Educators can gently move individuals, families, and communities toward self-regulation, integration, and connection as a way to address the current child and adolescent mental health crisis.